


(When You Smile) You Knock Me Out

by ObscureReference



Series: Two Idiots and a Baby [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babies, Babysitting, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Slight Insecurity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 16:57:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9281186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: Gladio rolled his eyes.“You didn’t break him,” he said, transferring Talcott from Prompto’s arms to his own. “He’s a baby. He’s a lot more resilient than you think.”The reassurance didn’t seem to help at all. Prompto still looked one rough breeze away from bursting into tears himself. “But then why won’t he stop?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> i finished writing this and turned my music on shuffle and "Dear Theodosia" immediately came on
> 
> i'm gay and i love domestic aus

Ten minutes.

He’d been in the shower for _ten minutes_. Tops.

When he stepped out, he was greeted to the sounds of a baby wailing and Prompto’s watery voice attempting to shush him.

_“Come on, little guy, don’t be like that! You just ate.”_

Gladio could hear them even from upstairs. He sighed and closed the bedroom door, searching for a pair of pants.

This morning had gone smooth enough, but babies were loud and needy. He had figured Talcott would start crying eventually. At least he had snuck in a few hours of sleep beforehand. The kid had a pair of lungs on him. He didn’t envy Talcott’s parents.

Once he was dressed, he opened the bedroom door again. Prompto’s voice floated up the stairs, accompanied by Talcott’s sobs. _“Don’t cry! It’s gonna be o-okay.”_

Prompto’s voice was cracking. That wasn’t good.

When Gladio found them in the living room, he found one baby crying and one adult who looked like he was on the verge of crying. Prompto’s eyes were red, and he looked on the edge of panic.

“Gladio!” Prompto said as soon as he spotted his boyfriend. “Help! He’s crying!”

Obviously.

“It’s been ten minutes,” Gladio grumbled. “What’re you freaking out for?”

“Because I don’t know why!” Prompto said. “We fed him. We changed his diaper. He won’t take any of his toys. He freaks out when I hold him, and he freaks out when I put him down! I can’t figure it out! What if—What if I broke him?”

Gladio rolled his eyes.

“You didn’t break him,” he said, transferring Talcott from Prompto’s arms to his own. “He’s a baby. He’s a lot more resilient than you think.”

The reassurance didn’t seem to help at all. Prompto still looked one rough breeze away from bursting into tears himself. “But then why won’t he stop?”

“Sometimes babies just cry,” Gladio said. He rocked Talcott in his arms, though it didn’t seem to help.  “Maybe he misses his mom. Who knows?”

“ _I_ want to know.”

“Yeah, don’t we all,” Gladio sniped. Then he took one look at Prompto’s face and regretted it instantly. He sighed. There was a wet spot growing on his shirt from Talcott’s crying. This was exactly why he didn’t want Iris dropping the kid off on such short notice. “Look, just. Go lay down on the couch.”

Prompto pulled a face. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

Apparently Gladio sounded firm enough that Prompto laid down without question. Once he was settled, Gladio walked over and placed Talcott face down on Prompto’s chest. Prompto scrunched his nose up at the sudden ball of crying baby on him.

Gladio grabbed Prompto’s wrist and guided his hand to Talcott’s back.

“He’s listening to your heartbeat,” Gladio said. “Rub his back or something.”

Under Gladio’s watchful eye, Prompto did. After a few minutes, Talcott’s crying had soothed into quiet grumbles and then, eventually, silence. He made a few soft sounds into Prompto’s shirt, but that was it. Talcott’s eyes slid shut.

“Holy shit,” Prompto breathed, his eyes wide in awe. “That actually worked.”

Gladio lowered himself to the floor, settling his lower back against the couch. His hair was still wet and no doubt dripping on the fabric, but he didn’t care.

“He was probably just grumpy and overtired,” he said. “You should see him when he cries for hours.”

Prompto looked horrified. “ _Hours?”_

“Yeah, hours. Babies get uncomfortable. They can’t talk, so they cry. They cry because they’re too warm or tired or hungry. Sometimes they just have colic.” Gladio shrugged. “You do what you can until they stop.”

“That sounds _awful_.”

Prompto’s voice picked up too sharply at the end, and Talcott squirmed. They both froze until Talcott settled down again, letting out a soft sigh. Only then did Prompto relax.

Gladio eyed him. “Not so easy now, is it?”

“I never thought it would be _easy_ ,” Prompto protested. “I just—didn’t think it would be so hard?”

Gladio snorted. Prompto looked sheepish.

“At least I didn’t think I’d panic so much,” Prompto continued. His mouth twisted into a frown. “He cried earlier, and that was fine. I got him whatever, and he stopped pretty fast. He didn’t stop immediately this time, and I just—I don’t know.”

“You’ve never watched a baby before,” Gladio said. His eyelids were heavy, and despite the shower, he craved nothing more than to crawl back into bed. “It’s normal. You’ll get better at it.”

“I guess.” Prompto didn’t sound very sure of himself. Gladio stole a glance at him and found Prompto staring back. “I’m sorry.”

Gladio straightened. He hadn’t realized how much he had been slouching before. “What for?”

Prompto couldn’t shrug while lying on his back with a baby in his lap, so the tiny shift of his shoulders was as close as he could get. He looked away from Gladio. “For insisting I could watch him by myself, I guess? I just wanted you to get some rest. I should have told Iris I couldn’t do it. Or let you watch Talcott like you told me to.”

“Prompto, you _did_ watch him by yourself. I slept longer because of you.”

“Yeah, but if he hadn’t calmed down as fast as he did then, you would have woken up sooner. The fact I didn’t freak out earlier was just a coincidence.” Talcott blew raspberries, and they both paused for a moment until he stopped. Then Prompto spoke again. “Besides, you’re helping me watch him now. You could have been enjoying your day off like you were supposed to if it weren’t for me.”

Gladio turned and rested his head on the edge of Prompto’s hip. He had a great view of the bottom of Talcott’s foot at this angle. “You and I both know Iris would have gotten one of us to watch him no matter what. There was no scenario where we didn’t get stuck with a baby today. You did a great job this morning. Babies are hard, and you had zero experience with them until now. You’re doing well.”

It wasn’t quite in Gladio’s nature to throw out so much praise all at once, and he noticed the way Prompto’s face had grown red again. Gladio nearly thought that _this_ was what was going to drive his boyfriend to tears—not the baby, but his own words—but Prompto just turned to look at him.

“You really think so?” Prompto asked quietly. For a guy who complained about everything under the sun, Prompto tended to hide how worked up he could get over the little things.

“Yeah, I do,” Gladio said. He sighed and patted Prompto’s leg. “Now come on, stand up.”

Prompto grimaced. His hand stilled on Talcott’s back. “No way. We just got him to calm down. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You sure aren’t,” Gladio agreed, standing up. “He’s going to nap for the next hour or two, and we don’t have a crib. So you might as well lay in a real bed and get real comfortable, because he’s not going to want you to move once he actually falls asleep.”

That did the trick. Prompto pulled a face, but he stood up, jostling Talcott as little as possible. Talcott grumbled at the movement, but he miraculously didn’t freak out. They made it back to the bedroom without incident.

Gladio watched Prompto gently lower himself onto the bed, Talcott in tow. He knew Prompto usually slept on his side, so the new position and added baby couldn’t have been the most comfortable situation to be in for him. Once they were settled, he crawled into bed next to them.

“What?” Gladio said in response to Prompto’s questioning look. “It’s nap time.”

Prompto laughed, and Talcott didn’t seem to mind the way his chest bounced with the sound. Gladio rolled onto his side and place his hand over Prompto’s on Talcott’s back, his thick fingers engulfing Prompto’s thinner digits. Prompto stared, his eyes flicking between their intertwined fingers and the sleeping baby below.

“What in the world would I do without you?” Prompto whispered.

Gladio closed his eyes and relaxed. “You’d be fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching a video of that heart to heart Noctis has with Prompto on top of the Old Lestallum motel and if you pick "Act unsurprised," you can get Noct to say, "You try to make everyone else feel better to make up for how you feel about yourself." 1. That fucked me up and 2. I imagine that's really hard to do with a baby, who at any given moment is easily made happy or cannot be made happy for the world. Prompto is insecure enough, so I wanted to show a bit of that here. 
> 
> I love domestic AUs and also Prompto/Gladio.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)


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